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Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. TDW has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with TDW holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of gauges market participants can use to watch the equity markets. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW).

Hedge fund activity in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -14% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the largest position in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW), worth close to $10 million, comprising 0% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $8 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Seeing as Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) has faced falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there were a few funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q4. Intriguingly, Richard Schimel’s Diamondback Capital said goodbye to the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, comprising about $3 million in stock., and John Burbank of Passport Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds in Q4.

How are insiders trading Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)?

Insider buying is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns shown by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) is an important part of this process.